title: Microarray analysis of virulence gene profiles in Salmonella serovars from food/food animal environment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rapid, accurate and inexpensive analysis of the disease-causing potential of foodborne pathogens is an important consideration in food safety and biodefense, particularly in developing countries. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the use of a robust and inexpensive microarray platform to assay the virulence gene profiles in Salmonella from food and/or the food animal environment, and then use ArrayTrack™ for data analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The spotted array consisted of 69 selected Salmonella-specific virulence gene probes (65bp each). These probes were printed on poly-L-lysine-coated slides. Genomic DNA was digested with Sau3AI, labeled with Cy3 dye, hybridized to the gene probes, and the images were captured and analyzed by GenePix 4000B and ArrayTrack™, a free software developed by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nearly 58% of the virulence-associated genes tested were present in all Salmonella strains tested. In general, genes belonging to inv, pip, prg, sic, sip, spa or ttr families were detected in more than 90% of the isolates, while the iacP, avrA, invH, rhuM, sirA, sopB, sopE or sugR genes were detected in 40 to 80% of the isolates. The gene variability was independent of the Salmonella serotype.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This hybridization array presents an accurate and cost-effective method for evaluating the disease-causing potential of Salmonella in outbreak investigations by targeting a selective set of Salmonella-associated virulence genes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Personalized Nutrition and Medicine, National Center for Toxicological Research, Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, United States.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Sufian F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Al-Khaldi
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Branham
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: James C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Fuscoe
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Carl E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Cerniglia
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nayak
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000382:microbiology; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015342:DNA Probes; D005516:Food Microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D012703:Serotyping; D012984:Software; D013997:Time Factors; D014422:Turkeys / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015342:DNA Probes